Day 79 - 9/9/21 - Thur
- mainemoviepirate
- 24 hours ago
- 4 min read
Journal Entry:
“I kind of slept; no dreams, and definitely no in-color ones. Up around 6:30. Lights came on. H/L/R drink, meds (no new one). Went back to sleep till 9:00 AM. Feeling a little better, but not 100%. At least the dread is gone. Vision slowly correcting.
LUNCH: Bone-In Chicken, sweet potato cubes, green beans, Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips. I ate one despite my ‘allergy’ to chocolate; it was delicious. I ate most of everything else.
Almost back to normal. Got most of the commissary order, the most important being copy cards. Going to mail one to Steve and a backup home for safety. I’m going to roll the dice and submit it. If I end up in the low, so be it. I just become more motivated to get the f*ck out of here. If I have the means, I might make a mistake, but one thing is for sure: it won’t be my first or last one. Decided to expand my legal search: copyright implied license, fair use, orphan works, first sale doctrine. I'm reading anything even slightly related.
SUPPER: Two hot dogs (one in reserve, Fish Friday on tap), tater tots, salad.
The DHS person accepted my email request, so GAME ON! (With some hesitation.) A.K. is trying to convince me to hire a lawyer. Hmmm, he doesn’t know the whole backstory and the complexities of the case. A lawyer might be smart in an ordinary situation, but my case is far from ordinary. Of course, everyone in prison says that.
New guy from Maine, Mt. Desert Island, pharmacist, I think. Some kind of Medicare fraud. At C.C.’s urging, I donated one of my reading lights to him. Because that’s what we do in here. People did it for me, so why not? Anyway, the newbie is J.R., but I thought C.C. told me his first name was Justin. His name didn’t ring any bells. Later, I found out he’s not actually from Maine, just owns a cabin up there. He caught his case elsewhere.
‘You’re in my Seat’ – Watched most of The Rainmaker, a movie I like and have seen before. Along Came Polly was next. I passed; I’ll watch it someday. I wasn’t in the mood for Ben Stiller.”
Notes for Day 79 (Four Years Later)
Two things: My expanding research into Copyright Infringement Defenses, of course. Little did I know, it was pointless after the direct appeal. We may have had a chance with the Fair Use Jury Instructions, but my then-lawyer basically blew off what I was telling him and what the main research lawyer from his own firm was suggesting. The remaining question: Why? Maybe I’ll get an answer someday.
Implied License was an important defense as well, because I used a software site called Kunaki. Basically, it’s a site where you can load up video/audio files, and they will manufacture and ship your DVD/CD directly to your customer. I started using it because it was a tremendous, efficient service. Now, plenty of my former competitors use it, and I’m sure they are making serious profit. But in the Government’s version of the MaineMoviePirate’s story, I used Kunaki to “escape” detection by law enforcement. That simply wasn’t true; it was—and is—a great service, and the decision was purely a financial one, not criminal.
But according to their user agreement, which reads: “you can only use the service if you own the rights OR that you have a direct or implied license from the copyright owner.” So right before my indictment, Kunaki shut me down and said the only way I could continue was to sign a paper that said I had the right to copy and distribute the Orphan Works I was selling. So I did, because based on their own user agreement, I had an IMPLIED LICENSE under Fair Use/Orphan Works. Plus, I knew or suspected that Homeland Security was probably squeezing the Kunaki personnel. Let’s face it, the business they are in, they are not going to invite any trouble from the feds. They copy and distribute a sh*tload of stuff, even in the declining market of physical media.
During my trial and my testimony, the U.S. Prosecutor said I lied to Kunaki by saying I had the rights from the holders. I disagreed—no, I didn’t, because of Implied License and Kunaki’s terms of use. I started to explain more, and the Prosecutor shut me down and moved on. That would have been a good place for an objection, but the same thing happened with the Fair Use statement: it’s a little late now. And as I am still discovering, my own lawyer’s motivations lay closer to the U.S. Government’s than winning my case.
Back to my forced vacation Journal: This was the first appearance of Justin, and I am going to call him that going forward, because I actually called him that for weeks, until someone corrected me. I can’t remember who said, “Who the fck are you talking about? Justin Who?” Then I kept using that name randomly as a joke. Justin was an interesting guy, and I’m trying to be polite here and use the right words, but I feel like I may not get it quite right. To say we eventually developed a love/hate relationship might be an understatement. He definitely added to my prison experience while in Devens. At this time in the Journal, we weren't quite friends yet. He was very standoffish and reserved, with me anyway. Even kind of shell-shocked. But then I learned he had months of diesel therapy and had seen some of the best shtholes the Bureau of Prisons had to offer. And I think I’ll leave it right there. But there will be plenty more entries containing Justin and the high drama surrounding our prison interactions.
One final thing and a private message: I hope you're reading this, buddy, and Justin, call me after May, 2026—the lobsters are waiting!
